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dragonofmemoryAnthropos Polytropos is found here on lj or here on AO3.
Hello all! There has been some interest expressed on having a complete version of Tony's list, and I've gotten a few comments from people saying they missed a good majority of the references. Since I'm so nice, I decided to give you both Tony's list and a list of references in case anything caught your eye and you'd like to know more.
So without further ado, have Tony's list of facts about himself and a list of quotes. Let me know if I've missed any.
Tony's List:
One: Pleasant voice, one that he liked listening to, so he supposed he was a bit full of himself.
Two: He was a handsome S.O.B., but he didn't like the look of himself, so hey, full of himself with issues.
Three: Sarcastic, which was his one redeeming feature so far.
Four A: He had a big, invasive machine in his chest that kept away the pain, possibly keeping him alive.
Four B: He was terrified of taking it out.
Five: He doesn't like himself.
Five B: He hated the name too. Subfiled under Issues.
Six: He was cowardly enough to hide under a desk rather than try to discover more about himself.
Seven: He had women with odd accents looking for him.
Seven Revised: He had sexy women obsessed with green who spoke with odd accents looking for him.
Eight: He likes to flirt.
Eight Revised: He likes to flirt. A lot. Probably a lot more than just flirting too.
Eight Revised 2: He likes to flirt, probably with both sexes.
Nine: He was named Anthony Stark
Ten: His smiles weren't very genuine.
Eleven: Does not follow orders.
Twelve: No major faith.
Thirteen: Low self-preservation instincts. It can and does over-rule Four B.
Fourteen: He hates magic.
Fifteen: Working with electronics is soothing.
Sixteen: He didn't trust anyone. Especially not himself.
Seventeen: Waking up after doing something phenomenally stupid usually brings pain, and this is not an uncommon occurrence for him.
Eighteen: Body acting strangely.
Nineteen: He was not above being petty and hypocritical.
Twenty: He does not like Captain America. (Possible cause: Cap preferred Howard Stark to Tony.)
Twenty Revised: He hated Captain America, but it was complicated. Facebook complicated.
Twenty-one: On a team with Cap.
Twenty-two: He does not like to be handed things.
Twenty-three: He does not like feelings.
Twenty-three Revised: He hated emotions because he was terrible at them.
Twenty-three Revised 2: He hated feelings, except for warm fuzzy ones?
Twenty-four: He's an asshole.
Twenty-five: He babbles a lot. It's a coping mechanism.
Twenty-six: Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
Twenty-six A: He would refuse to admit he had it, but the evidence was pretty damning and there was no point in denial in this place.
Twenty-six B: It sucked.
Twenty-six C: He didn't talk about it.
Twenty-seven: He's (not) afraid of water.
Twenty-Seven B: He's afraid of drowning.
Twenty-eight: He's a stubborn son of a bitch.
Twenty-nine: Captured in Afghanistan.
Thirty: Approval didn't happen to him often.
Thirty-one: He didn't seem like the sort of person who had a lot of people who were genuinely fond of him.
Thirty-two: Not a natural at physical affection.
Thirty-three: He doesn't like people knowing about him.
Thirty-four: He made things for the team.
Thirty-five: People always left when they saw the real Tony. Always.
Thirty-six: Probably very kinky.
Thirty-seven: He can box, and he was taught by his chauffeur.
Thirty-eight: Tapping the reactor is a nervous tick.
Thirty-nine: He doesn't like Howard Stark.
Forty: Pain is not a turn-on.
Forty-one: He is a futurist.
Forty-two: It was the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
Forty-three: He wasn't hugged very often by his parents.
Forty-four: Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
Forty-five: His hands were stained, and they've been stained for a long time.
Forty-six: There wasn't a weapon made that wouldn't yield to Tony Stark.
Forty-seven: He could not waste his life.
Forty-eight: Commitment issues.
Forty-nine: His suit of armor was way cooler than Tony Stark.
Fifty: He does make the sacrifice play.
List of Quotes and References:
Prologue:
Chapter name quote:
"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy."
Homer, The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles.
Because it's one of the oldest openings we have. It's not Franz Kefka, but it'll work in this case.
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 "My Mistresses' eyes"
"I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground."
Couldn't resist. I have a very low tolerance when it comes to resisting the Bard.
"Are you the Calypso to my Odysseus? Cause I don't mind being your captive for a while."
Homer, The Odyssey
A reference to Calypso, who held Odysseus captive for ten years. Odysseus wept on the headlands a lot for his missing Penelope, then slept with the Goddess every night. It's hard to feel too sorry for him.
"He touched the doorknob and felt a chill run down his spine. Pulling his hand back as if he'd been shocked, he half expected it to come alive and start talking to him. "Do doorknobs talk? Or was it door knockers?" he muttered, backing away from the door."
Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
A reference to the Disney movie of Alice in Wonderland, where unlike in the books, the doorknob talks. His confusion about door knockers comes from A Christmas Carol where the knocker talks to Scrooge.
"Then he poked his head out to see a red, white, and blue rounded blur cutting through one of the long necks on the serpent. A few seconds later, two heads replaced it. Hydra, his mind supplied, though he couldn't have said how he knew that when he hadn't even known his own name. Fucking Hydra."
A reference to the Lernaean Hydra that Heracles (or Hercules, for you more Roman minded readers) fought as part of his Twelve Labors. It is also the creature HYDRA, Captain America's enemy during WWII, takes it's name and catchphrase from.
Chapter One:
"Nobody. Nobody works. Nobody you need to bother with. I don't want you calling me anything, so - Don't!"
Homer, The Odyssey
A reference to how Odysseus defeats the cyclopes, Polyphemus. Polyphemus asks for Odysseus's name, and he replies that he is called 'Nobody'. Then when Polyphemus is blinded and calls for help, no one comes because he shouts "Nobody blinded me!"
"It'll be like a road trip. An odyssey. 'Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns.' Yeah, that sounds right."
Another Odyssey reference. The paragraph below this one mentions Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey.
""Yeah," Cap said with a small grin. It faded when Tony failed to return it. "It's where I found myself when I got here. Made me think of the Swiss Family Robinson."
"Or Robinson Crusoe. Where's your group of natives, Uncle Sam? Not patriotic enough for you?""
Johann David Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Both are stranded in strange places and have to make do with what they have.
Chapter Two:
Not a reference in the fic, but any time they talked about how far Clint's arrows went, all I could think of was Magic Knight Rayearth and Tony's mind being like Cephiro, the land of the will. "If you believe, the arrow will fly and the rock will break!"
""And what other secrets aren't you supposed to tell me?" Tony asked innocently."
Technically, I stole that line from Babylon 5, despite it not being an actual reference. If you watch the Episode War Without End Part One, you might see a similar question being asked by Captain Sheridan. XD
""An AI with no heart?" Tony asked, sorting through quotes that came to mind. "Like Tik-Tok?" Something about that seemed right. Faithful. Though if he were to build a robot, Tony would try to give it feelings."
L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz
Tik-Tok was a robot found by Dorothy in Oz. He had no feelings, but becomes Dorothy's servant who protects her. He is faithful and loyal.
""Don't you have to go up and be the albatross or something?" Tony said, clearly dismissing him."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Marinier"
Looking back, I'm surprised I didn't slip an actual quote in there from this one. Basically, it's a reference to the poem. It figures that everything starts to go wrong from this point, because the 'albatross' is killed. Clint guided Tony out of the flashbacks, but then he died and stole away their good luck. XD This actually was my backup for if Moby Dick wasn't working, but Clint (unlike Bruce) works with me instead of against me.
"To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
Because it's an awesome quote of vengeance, despite how much I hate Melville.
Chapter Three:
"It was a swan, white and elegant, and completely unimpressed with him. Vaguely, Tony remembered something about how mean swans were."
The White swan is a reference to the Swan Princess. Due to my history as a dancer, I'm drawing more from the ballet than anything. I went with the white swan rather than the black one because A) Tony knows that Natasha is a good guy. B) I love the contrast between the white feather's and Natasha's black outfit. And C) the whole reason I wrote this fic was because of the red blood on white feathers as she's killed by the Rat King. Yup, I do have a thing for colors. And sadism. This should surprise no one.
Also, I stand by my statement that swans are mean.
"The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown, the lion beat the unicorn all around the town."
Traditional nursery rhyme from England. It also makes an appearance in Lewis Carol's Through the Looking-Glass. And no, I really can't resist making a reference to unicorns.
"It felt a little like finding the man behind the curtain, calling a national hero by his first name."
Another Oz reference. I do like those.
"When the Dark comes rising, Six shall hold it back. Three from the circle, three from the track."
Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising
I have a thing for children's novels, if you hadn't gathered. I also couldn't resist a reference to the Dark is Rising. Considering three of them are metahumans and the other three are normal humans, I thought it was particularly apt. You can see wynjara's comments on this chapter for more speculation.
"Or maybe he just makes things for the team? Being Q probably wasn't too bad."
Ian Fleming, the Bond Series, though Q isn't actually in Fleming's novels. I couldn't resist a Q joke though. He's always been my favorite Bond character.
"Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man."
Zhuangzi, translated by Lin Yutang
I admit, I rather picture Tony doing what my mother did when she was in high school: read every book in the library, even the ones she wasn't interested in or were too 'risque' for children because it was the only thing she hadn't read yet. Which is how I justify him reading Zhuangzi. I figure it was something he picked up when he was bored, and he filed the knowledge away.
Chapter Four:
"Captain America couldn't stop for death, so it kindly stopped for Natasha?"
Emily Dickenson, "Because I could not stop for death"
As mentioned earlier, Tony bastardizes this one. XD
"Besides, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke."
A reference to Arthur C. Clark's three laws. Technically, Clark had been writing during Steve's time, but most of his more popular works were written after, so I decided to have Steve not recognize the name.
"Because I'm suddenly remembering quotes about feasters who fall asleep for years upon eating."
A scene from Voyage of the Dawn Trader and Rip Van Winkle (who only had wine, true, but still) come to mind. XD I couldn't find a good quote from either to use though, so I just left it ambiguous. It's a legit fear for Cap though. XD
"It was a riddle without an answer, and Tony couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Alice, even if he didn't know who Alice was."
Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland
A reference to the Mad Hatter's tea party. There's a few of them here, including the bit about the door mice.
""You shouldn't beat time. 'He won't stand beating'," Tony said."
Also from Alice.
Chapter Five:
"It was like the Emerald City, where one needed special glasses to see anything while walking around, and he had to close his eyes again."
Another reference to Oz.
"I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousnesses, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both."
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Because really, it fit too well not to.
"So what does he look like? I promise I won't quote any more. Just don't say he's not easy to describe, because he doesn't seem displeasing or unlikable or-"
Another Stevenson quote.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the angriest of them all?"
Snow White. I'm not actually sure if that's in any of the written forms of the story. It just seemed like something Tony would say.
"It's not easy being green, huh?"
Shameless Muppets quote. Because I adore them.
""Through the looking glass," Tony said over Bruce's startled yelp."
Another Lewis Carol reference. Because really, who doesn't like those?
"Out flew the web and floated wide," Tony recited. "The mirror cracked from side to side. 'The doom has come upon me,' cried the Lady of Shallot."
Lord Alfred Tennyson, "The Lady of Shallot"
Because I do so love quoting that bit. I blame Agatha Christie.
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
It is my second favorite Shakespeare play. I couldn't resist.
Chapter Six:
"But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."
Walt Whitman, "O, Captain! My Captain"
Because really, there's nothing better than a poem mourning the assassination of a president to mark Steve's death.
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
From the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy. Have I mentioned I like that play? Tony's also feeling a bit fatalistic at the moment, so I thought it fit.
Chapter Seven:
"I wasted time, and now doth Time waste me: For now hath Time made me his numb'ring clock; My thoughts are minutes."
William Shakespeare, Richard II
Mostly because I love that line.
"Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep"
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Part of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. I resisted in the first draft to not use it. But when I was finally posting it, I decided screw it. So in the quote goes. The Chapter title comes from the end of the soliloquy.
"I kissed thee, ere I killed thee. No way but this, killing myself to die upon a kiss."
William Shakespeare, Othello
Because this is my favorite Shakespeare play. It's also one of my favorite lines, along with "I was a man who loved not wisely, but too well."
"Good night, sweet prince."
More Hamlet. Tony, you are not Horatio. You don't survive this either. XD
"When the bad bleed, then is the tragedy good."
Thomas Middleton (assumed, since the play was technically anonymous), The Revengers Tragedy
Because it's an awesome play. Lots of sex and violence.
Chapter Eight:
Chapter title - "Young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more"
From the Odyssey. Because really, I'm never through quoting that sucker.
"You're a pain in the ass, but you're our pain in the ass, so don't forget it."
Crusade.
Clint doesn't know he's quoting it, especially since he doesn't recognize the quote below it, but I couldn't help but bring in this line from Crusade, especially since it's out in the real world and I don't have to stick to purely literary quotes. XD
"Think of it as a universal mystery that will never be solved."
"Or would drive you mad to know the truth?"
Babylon 5
I spent the whole fic not giving in and sneaking in B5 quotes. My will power to resist broke. XD
Epilogue:
"He was worse than Puddleglum. Totally a new nickname for anyone who was being grumpy."
C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
No matter how many times Jill or Eustice calls Puddleglum a wet blanket, he is still awesome. I love Puddleglum. Especially when he's played by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.
"It was just... the green-eyed monster, I guess. Not green rage monster, because those are awesome no matter what Bruce says."
More Othello. It is my favorite. XD That's where we get the expression about jealousy being the gree-eyed monster.
"But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain. The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley."
Robert Burns, "To a Mouse"
I've got a terrible fondness for this poem. I've used it for an rp character before, and it's stuck with me, so I couldn't resist it here.
"Odysseus. The ingenious hero who traveled far and wide. Though I think you put it differently."
Samuel Butler, The Odyssey
I went with a translation that Steve probably would have been more familiar with, since the Fagles one was from the 60's.
And there you have it. Like I said, let me know if I've missed any or if there's something you want clarifying. Sadly, it's not MLA format because I'm way too lazy to format all of that properly. But you do have the author and title, so be grateful. Hopefully one or two of those have sparked your interest if you haven't recognized any of the quotes.
Hello all! There has been some interest expressed on having a complete version of Tony's list, and I've gotten a few comments from people saying they missed a good majority of the references. Since I'm so nice, I decided to give you both Tony's list and a list of references in case anything caught your eye and you'd like to know more.
So without further ado, have Tony's list of facts about himself and a list of quotes. Let me know if I've missed any.
Tony's List:
One: Pleasant voice, one that he liked listening to, so he supposed he was a bit full of himself.
Two: He was a handsome S.O.B., but he didn't like the look of himself, so hey, full of himself with issues.
Three: Sarcastic, which was his one redeeming feature so far.
Four A: He had a big, invasive machine in his chest that kept away the pain, possibly keeping him alive.
Four B: He was terrified of taking it out.
Five: He doesn't like himself.
Five B: He hated the name too. Subfiled under Issues.
Six: He was cowardly enough to hide under a desk rather than try to discover more about himself.
Seven: He had women with odd accents looking for him.
Seven Revised: He had sexy women obsessed with green who spoke with odd accents looking for him.
Eight: He likes to flirt.
Eight Revised: He likes to flirt. A lot. Probably a lot more than just flirting too.
Eight Revised 2: He likes to flirt, probably with both sexes.
Nine: He was named Anthony Stark
Ten: His smiles weren't very genuine.
Eleven: Does not follow orders.
Twelve: No major faith.
Thirteen: Low self-preservation instincts. It can and does over-rule Four B.
Fourteen: He hates magic.
Fifteen: Working with electronics is soothing.
Sixteen: He didn't trust anyone. Especially not himself.
Seventeen: Waking up after doing something phenomenally stupid usually brings pain, and this is not an uncommon occurrence for him.
Eighteen: Body acting strangely.
Nineteen: He was not above being petty and hypocritical.
Twenty: He does not like Captain America. (Possible cause: Cap preferred Howard Stark to Tony.)
Twenty Revised: He hated Captain America, but it was complicated. Facebook complicated.
Twenty-one: On a team with Cap.
Twenty-two: He does not like to be handed things.
Twenty-three: He does not like feelings.
Twenty-three Revised: He hated emotions because he was terrible at them.
Twenty-three Revised 2: He hated feelings, except for warm fuzzy ones?
Twenty-four: He's an asshole.
Twenty-five: He babbles a lot. It's a coping mechanism.
Twenty-six: Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
Twenty-six A: He would refuse to admit he had it, but the evidence was pretty damning and there was no point in denial in this place.
Twenty-six B: It sucked.
Twenty-six C: He didn't talk about it.
Twenty-seven: He's (not) afraid of water.
Twenty-Seven B: He's afraid of drowning.
Twenty-eight: He's a stubborn son of a bitch.
Twenty-nine: Captured in Afghanistan.
Thirty: Approval didn't happen to him often.
Thirty-one: He didn't seem like the sort of person who had a lot of people who were genuinely fond of him.
Thirty-two: Not a natural at physical affection.
Thirty-three: He doesn't like people knowing about him.
Thirty-four: He made things for the team.
Thirty-five: People always left when they saw the real Tony. Always.
Thirty-six: Probably very kinky.
Thirty-seven: He can box, and he was taught by his chauffeur.
Thirty-eight: Tapping the reactor is a nervous tick.
Thirty-nine: He doesn't like Howard Stark.
Forty: Pain is not a turn-on.
Forty-one: He is a futurist.
Forty-two: It was the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
Forty-three: He wasn't hugged very often by his parents.
Forty-four: Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
Forty-five: His hands were stained, and they've been stained for a long time.
Forty-six: There wasn't a weapon made that wouldn't yield to Tony Stark.
Forty-seven: He could not waste his life.
Forty-eight: Commitment issues.
Forty-nine: His suit of armor was way cooler than Tony Stark.
Fifty: He does make the sacrifice play.
List of Quotes and References:
Prologue:
Chapter name quote:
"Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy."
Homer, The Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles.
Because it's one of the oldest openings we have. It's not Franz Kefka, but it'll work in this case.
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 130 "My Mistresses' eyes"
"I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground."
Couldn't resist. I have a very low tolerance when it comes to resisting the Bard.
"Are you the Calypso to my Odysseus? Cause I don't mind being your captive for a while."
Homer, The Odyssey
A reference to Calypso, who held Odysseus captive for ten years. Odysseus wept on the headlands a lot for his missing Penelope, then slept with the Goddess every night. It's hard to feel too sorry for him.
"He touched the doorknob and felt a chill run down his spine. Pulling his hand back as if he'd been shocked, he half expected it to come alive and start talking to him. "Do doorknobs talk? Or was it door knockers?" he muttered, backing away from the door."
Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
A reference to the Disney movie of Alice in Wonderland, where unlike in the books, the doorknob talks. His confusion about door knockers comes from A Christmas Carol where the knocker talks to Scrooge.
"Then he poked his head out to see a red, white, and blue rounded blur cutting through one of the long necks on the serpent. A few seconds later, two heads replaced it. Hydra, his mind supplied, though he couldn't have said how he knew that when he hadn't even known his own name. Fucking Hydra."
A reference to the Lernaean Hydra that Heracles (or Hercules, for you more Roman minded readers) fought as part of his Twelve Labors. It is also the creature HYDRA, Captain America's enemy during WWII, takes it's name and catchphrase from.
Chapter One:
"Nobody. Nobody works. Nobody you need to bother with. I don't want you calling me anything, so - Don't!"
Homer, The Odyssey
A reference to how Odysseus defeats the cyclopes, Polyphemus. Polyphemus asks for Odysseus's name, and he replies that he is called 'Nobody'. Then when Polyphemus is blinded and calls for help, no one comes because he shouts "Nobody blinded me!"
"It'll be like a road trip. An odyssey. 'Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns.' Yeah, that sounds right."
Another Odyssey reference. The paragraph below this one mentions Odysseus, the main character of The Odyssey.
""Yeah," Cap said with a small grin. It faded when Tony failed to return it. "It's where I found myself when I got here. Made me think of the Swiss Family Robinson."
"Or Robinson Crusoe. Where's your group of natives, Uncle Sam? Not patriotic enough for you?""
Johann David Wyss, The Swiss Family Robinson
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
Both are stranded in strange places and have to make do with what they have.
Chapter Two:
Not a reference in the fic, but any time they talked about how far Clint's arrows went, all I could think of was Magic Knight Rayearth and Tony's mind being like Cephiro, the land of the will. "If you believe, the arrow will fly and the rock will break!"
""And what other secrets aren't you supposed to tell me?" Tony asked innocently."
Technically, I stole that line from Babylon 5, despite it not being an actual reference. If you watch the Episode War Without End Part One, you might see a similar question being asked by Captain Sheridan. XD
""An AI with no heart?" Tony asked, sorting through quotes that came to mind. "Like Tik-Tok?" Something about that seemed right. Faithful. Though if he were to build a robot, Tony would try to give it feelings."
L. Frank Baum, Ozma of Oz
Tik-Tok was a robot found by Dorothy in Oz. He had no feelings, but becomes Dorothy's servant who protects her. He is faithful and loyal.
""Don't you have to go up and be the albatross or something?" Tony said, clearly dismissing him."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Marinier"
Looking back, I'm surprised I didn't slip an actual quote in there from this one. Basically, it's a reference to the poem. It figures that everything starts to go wrong from this point, because the 'albatross' is killed. Clint guided Tony out of the flashbacks, but then he died and stole away their good luck. XD This actually was my backup for if Moby Dick wasn't working, but Clint (unlike Bruce) works with me instead of against me.
"To the last, I grapple with thee; From Hell's heart, I stab at thee; For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."
Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
Because it's an awesome quote of vengeance, despite how much I hate Melville.
Chapter Three:
"It was a swan, white and elegant, and completely unimpressed with him. Vaguely, Tony remembered something about how mean swans were."
The White swan is a reference to the Swan Princess. Due to my history as a dancer, I'm drawing more from the ballet than anything. I went with the white swan rather than the black one because A) Tony knows that Natasha is a good guy. B) I love the contrast between the white feather's and Natasha's black outfit. And C) the whole reason I wrote this fic was because of the red blood on white feathers as she's killed by the Rat King. Yup, I do have a thing for colors. And sadism. This should surprise no one.
Also, I stand by my statement that swans are mean.
"The lion and the unicorn were fighting for the crown, the lion beat the unicorn all around the town."
Traditional nursery rhyme from England. It also makes an appearance in Lewis Carol's Through the Looking-Glass. And no, I really can't resist making a reference to unicorns.
"It felt a little like finding the man behind the curtain, calling a national hero by his first name."
Another Oz reference. I do like those.
"When the Dark comes rising, Six shall hold it back. Three from the circle, three from the track."
Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising
I have a thing for children's novels, if you hadn't gathered. I also couldn't resist a reference to the Dark is Rising. Considering three of them are metahumans and the other three are normal humans, I thought it was particularly apt. You can see wynjara's comments on this chapter for more speculation.
"Or maybe he just makes things for the team? Being Q probably wasn't too bad."
Ian Fleming, the Bond Series, though Q isn't actually in Fleming's novels. I couldn't resist a Q joke though. He's always been my favorite Bond character.
"Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man."
Zhuangzi, translated by Lin Yutang
I admit, I rather picture Tony doing what my mother did when she was in high school: read every book in the library, even the ones she wasn't interested in or were too 'risque' for children because it was the only thing she hadn't read yet. Which is how I justify him reading Zhuangzi. I figure it was something he picked up when he was bored, and he filed the knowledge away.
Chapter Four:
"Captain America couldn't stop for death, so it kindly stopped for Natasha?"
Emily Dickenson, "Because I could not stop for death"
As mentioned earlier, Tony bastardizes this one. XD
"Besides, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke."
A reference to Arthur C. Clark's three laws. Technically, Clark had been writing during Steve's time, but most of his more popular works were written after, so I decided to have Steve not recognize the name.
"Because I'm suddenly remembering quotes about feasters who fall asleep for years upon eating."
A scene from Voyage of the Dawn Trader and Rip Van Winkle (who only had wine, true, but still) come to mind. XD I couldn't find a good quote from either to use though, so I just left it ambiguous. It's a legit fear for Cap though. XD
"It was a riddle without an answer, and Tony couldn't help but feel some sympathy for Alice, even if he didn't know who Alice was."
Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland
A reference to the Mad Hatter's tea party. There's a few of them here, including the bit about the door mice.
""You shouldn't beat time. 'He won't stand beating'," Tony said."
Also from Alice.
Chapter Five:
"It was like the Emerald City, where one needed special glasses to see anything while walking around, and he had to close his eyes again."
Another reference to Oz.
"I learned to recognize the thorough and primitive duality of man; I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousnesses, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both."
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Because really, it fit too well not to.
"So what does he look like? I promise I won't quote any more. Just don't say he's not easy to describe, because he doesn't seem displeasing or unlikable or-"
Another Stevenson quote.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the angriest of them all?"
Snow White. I'm not actually sure if that's in any of the written forms of the story. It just seemed like something Tony would say.
"It's not easy being green, huh?"
Shameless Muppets quote. Because I adore them.
""Through the looking glass," Tony said over Bruce's startled yelp."
Another Lewis Carol reference. Because really, who doesn't like those?
"Out flew the web and floated wide," Tony recited. "The mirror cracked from side to side. 'The doom has come upon me,' cried the Lady of Shallot."
Lord Alfred Tennyson, "The Lady of Shallot"
Because I do so love quoting that bit. I blame Agatha Christie.
"All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
It is my second favorite Shakespeare play. I couldn't resist.
Chapter Six:
"But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead."
Walt Whitman, "O, Captain! My Captain"
Because really, there's nothing better than a poem mourning the assassination of a president to mark Steve's death.
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing."
William Shakespeare, Macbeth
From the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" soliloquy. Have I mentioned I like that play? Tony's also feeling a bit fatalistic at the moment, so I thought it fit.
Chapter Seven:
"I wasted time, and now doth Time waste me: For now hath Time made me his numb'ring clock; My thoughts are minutes."
William Shakespeare, Richard II
Mostly because I love that line.
"Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep"
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Part of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy. I resisted in the first draft to not use it. But when I was finally posting it, I decided screw it. So in the quote goes. The Chapter title comes from the end of the soliloquy.
"I kissed thee, ere I killed thee. No way but this, killing myself to die upon a kiss."
William Shakespeare, Othello
Because this is my favorite Shakespeare play. It's also one of my favorite lines, along with "I was a man who loved not wisely, but too well."
"Good night, sweet prince."
More Hamlet. Tony, you are not Horatio. You don't survive this either. XD
"When the bad bleed, then is the tragedy good."
Thomas Middleton (assumed, since the play was technically anonymous), The Revengers Tragedy
Because it's an awesome play. Lots of sex and violence.
Chapter Eight:
Chapter title - "Young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more"
From the Odyssey. Because really, I'm never through quoting that sucker.
"You're a pain in the ass, but you're our pain in the ass, so don't forget it."
Crusade.
Clint doesn't know he's quoting it, especially since he doesn't recognize the quote below it, but I couldn't help but bring in this line from Crusade, especially since it's out in the real world and I don't have to stick to purely literary quotes. XD
"Think of it as a universal mystery that will never be solved."
"Or would drive you mad to know the truth?"
Babylon 5
I spent the whole fic not giving in and sneaking in B5 quotes. My will power to resist broke. XD
Epilogue:
"He was worse than Puddleglum. Totally a new nickname for anyone who was being grumpy."
C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair
No matter how many times Jill or Eustice calls Puddleglum a wet blanket, he is still awesome. I love Puddleglum. Especially when he's played by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker.
"It was just... the green-eyed monster, I guess. Not green rage monster, because those are awesome no matter what Bruce says."
More Othello. It is my favorite. XD That's where we get the expression about jealousy being the gree-eyed monster.
"But Mousie, thou are no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain. The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, Gang aft agley."
Robert Burns, "To a Mouse"
I've got a terrible fondness for this poem. I've used it for an rp character before, and it's stuck with me, so I couldn't resist it here.
"Odysseus. The ingenious hero who traveled far and wide. Though I think you put it differently."
Samuel Butler, The Odyssey
I went with a translation that Steve probably would have been more familiar with, since the Fagles one was from the 60's.
And there you have it. Like I said, let me know if I've missed any or if there's something you want clarifying. Sadly, it's not MLA format because I'm way too lazy to format all of that properly. But you do have the author and title, so be grateful. Hopefully one or two of those have sparked your interest if you haven't recognized any of the quotes.
